Conventional Thinking

For years, Maine’s two largest cities have struggled to come up with schemes to finance construction of new civic centers that don’t overburden local taxpayers but are palatable to surrounding communities. Their efforts have been unsuccessful, leaving Bangor and Portland to try to persuade conventions and cultural and sporting events to come despite inferior facilities.

Now, Gov. John Baldacci has created a long-overdue task force that will look for ways to finance such structures. His efforts should prod lawmakers to work together to find the most efficient and equitable way to finance these needed facilities so that it doesn’t drive more convention business to out-of-state locales.

Maine is missing out on meeting and convention business because it does not have the facilities to host large gatherings, according to a 2001 report conducted for the state by Conventions Sports and Leisure. It suggested that if a better facility were built in Bangor, three national association events and three additional regional events and five additional events could be drawn to the city.

This would mean an additional $2 million in direct spending in the city. Statewide, nearly 100 additional events could be held if new convention facilities were built throughout Maine. This would boost direct spending by nearly $11 million, according to the report.

For years Bangor has wanted to replace its aged auditorium and civic center. The auditorium, built in 1954, is small and plagued with infrastructure problems, such as leaking roofs that have delayed tournament basketball games. The civic center also is too small to accommodate most meetings.

Few question the inadequacy of aged facilities like Bangor’s. However, when it comes time to finance a new civic center, expected to cost nearly $50 million, few entities want to contribute. The Bangor City Council has supported a local option sales tax – an additional 1 cent tax on items sold in the city – to raise funds for the project. However, such a tax must be approved by the Legislature, which has repeatedly nixed it, most recently two years ago.

The argument against local option taxes, which 37 states already have, is that people in outlying communities who buy things in Bangor are unfairly forced to pay the higher tax. It conveniently overlooks the fact that people from well beyond Bangor’s city limits attend events at these facilities and that businesses in surrounding communities get some of the money that is spent by visitors drawn to events and the auditorium and civic center.

That leaves communities like Bangor in the impossible situation of asking local property tax payers to shoulder an increase in their levy to build a new facility that will benefit the region as a whole.

Gov. Baldacci’s group is a much-needed effort to break up this regional stalemate. The group, which includes the Department of Community and Economic Development, the State Planning Office and the Maine Revenue Service, is to find ways to finance civic, convention and cultural facilities. Suggestions include various forms of tax increment financing, the creation of Civic, Convention and Cultural Facility Investment Districts and raising money through bonds or dedicated local option taxes.

The group’s recommendations should lead lawmakers to a solution that fairly distributes the costs of new facilities among the regions that will benefit from the increased business. That, or they can start handing out directions to Boston.